ABSTRACT
Urban sustainability and compact cities have recently become prominent public policy issues in Japan, with several major new national government initiatives being introduced, and best-selling books on the topic appearing in major bookstores. In 2005 the Comprehensive National Land Development Act was replaced by the National Land Sustainability Planning Act, and in 2007, then Prime Minister Fukuda’s foremost urban policy was to promote “compact cities.”1 This promised to include stronger urban growth boundaries, and the revitalization and intensification of city centers in an attempt to change patterns of urban growth and promote sustainability.
